NCAA “Seriously Considering” Allowing Players to Receive Endorsements

Today during a 45-minute long phone interview with the Associated Press, NCAA President Mark Emmett, had talks ranging from a wide variety of topics, but specifically focusing on the aspect of how to handle the amateur status of players. Emmett is ignoring the fire that has engulfed the integrity of the NCAA with scandals of pay-to-play allegations infesting Men’s Basketball, which has even sparked an FBI investigation. Emmett said,

“That’s not the same as saying that collegiate sports is in crisis”

This is an absurd thing to claim and Emmett is feeling the heat. The NCAA is experiencing a massive scandal with the pay-to-play scheme being exposed by the FBI. Elite College programs have been paying players to play for them, and it is now finally being exposed. Certain players have been paid by certain programs to play for them, and the NCAA is embarrassed and furious. They are embarrassed because of the damage this scandal is doing to their image. They are furious because they did not financially profit off of the exchanges occurring between the player and the university.

These collegiate athletes who he has taken advantage of to the tune of billions of dollars are finally realizing the market value they have, and he is afraid of losing his monopoly. The NCAA is scrambling to keep their cash cow alive and are now finally realizing they will have to make a concession to the students. In the phone interview, Emmet made a statement that is sure to perk your interest, and is the obvious reason you clicked to read this blog,

“There’s a lot of discussion about the Olympic model and think it’s well deserving of serious consideration inside the context of college sports”

The Olympics allow for participants to solicit and receive endorsements from corporations to help pay the bills. The Olympics recognize in order to keep their monopoly of financial income from the TV deals, they needed to allow the athletes to receive some form of income. So, the endorsement route is what allows the Olympics to keep the image that they’re ‘only concerned about sports and world unity.”

The NCAA is synonymous with the Olympics when it comes to taking advantage of athletes, but the Olympics at least allow their athletes to make a living. The NCAA knows that they cannot survive as a corporation if they start allowing athletes to make money off of their skills. The NCAA has too much control over these students’ lives and hopefully some reforms can start to occur to allow these kids a chance to make a living off of their skill, because we know their school if profiting off of them.

Here is some of the reforms/common-sense things that the NCAA should “seriously consider”

An athlete should be allowed to sell their signature for a profit.

An athlete should be allowed to endorse a product/corporation for financial gain

An athlete should be allowed to make appearances at a business for financial gain

An athlete should be allowed to sign with an agent for financial gain if that agent believes they can go pro

An athlete should be allowed to demand better facilities and serviced from the school they are playing for, when they bring in massive products

An athlete should be allowed to profit off of memorabilia/souvenir that contains any reference to them individually that the school sells

If the NCAA allows for these reforms to occur, then the NCAA will get to indulge themselves in their sacred cash cow of collegiate athletics.